Page 107 of Zoinks! Nice Pack, Bro

Control? What does that even mean?

“Is it okay if we talk with your friends here?” Sadie lets her eyes shift and she glances around at us without seeming to really look at any of us before she just nods her head. Her eyes looking at where Cameron is holding her hand.

We’re not just her friends. We’re her alphas. Her pack but I think that he is trying to placate her. He doesn’t know the situation from her point of view and he’s trying to give her some of her voice back..

I thank God when she gives Cam’s hand a squeeze because I know he needs it.

“I wasn’t trying to kill myself.” Her voice is sure as she says this even in the raspy unused whisper she can currently speak in.

Could have fooled me with that.

After seeing her sinking down in a tub full of her blood I was pretty sure that was exactly what she was doing. The way her hair was floating in the red water and her eyes were half closed as she passed out.

I was sure she had achieved whatever she was trying to do when I first saw her.

“I’ve done this before. Never this deep or anything but I have, you know, a need for control. I haven’t been sad. I’m onLexapro and it’s working to help me. I just had something-” She stops herself and looks at her wrist and then the doctor.

Cameron’s hand gets dropped as she pushes herself up, wincing at the weight she puts on her hand with the injury.Pax jumps at this, stepping closer with a growl. He is looking at her now. Suddenly not afraid to see her like he had been for days.

“It’s okay. We can have you-”

“Am I being placed on a 72 hour hold?” Her voice is serious, looking at the doctor with a stare that has me sending Pax a look. He seems just as confused by her shift in attitude as the rest of us are.

“No but-”

“I want the discharge paperwork.” She levels him with a look, “I’ll email my therapist in front of you, if you haven’t reached out already, so you can have proof of an action plan. But if I’m not on a hold I want to leave. Now.” Her voice has a note of something in it and I can see the doctor looking at us like we need to jump in.

Now he wants us to be more than just her friends. Convenient for him.

But I want her to be out of here too. I want to take care of her and keep her safe. Not that we did a great job of that so far.

Maybe we aren’t right for Sadie. Maybe we failed her too much and can’t keep her safe. Maybe we’re the problem.

I want Sadie to open up to us and to let her know that we are here for her.

I want to-

“I changedmy mind.” The doctor looks at her in confusion, “I want my room to be family only.” She crosses her arms over her chest and now I’m even more confused by what is going on here.

She’s all over the place and I can’t follow her line of thought. Fear clings to me as I worry that our plan to take her to the ranch is a bad idea. Maybe she doesn’t need a break. Maybe we should get her more help here.

“Princess-”

“Sadie baby-”

“Miss, I can’t-”

“Am I not allowed to leave?” She asks again, her voice all ice and malice now.

Our Sadie girl is hurting and all she knows howto do is push everyone away.

Why can’t she see that she doesn’t have to be alone?

“If they leave I can’t release you because of him,” He points his finger to me, “He connected your therapist and came up with an action plan for you. So if you’re released today, you’re being released with someone because you're not supposed to be alone. Since you have signed paperwork with the Omega Society that you’re courting this pack I can either place you with them or if they are not a safe option we can come up with a new action plan for you.” The doctor is all business.

Sadie’s eyes look at me and I see her soften as she whines out. There is something in it that makes me tense more than normal. She doesn’t know what to say and is upset.

All our alpha instincts have us bristling as we hear the sound of distress from her. Reacting more than normal because of the current situation we are in with our omega.

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